Alan Simpson: Social Security Is 'A Milk Cow With 310 Million Tits'

Alan Simpson: Social Security Is 'A Milk Cow With 310 Million Tits'

by

Ryan Grim

Alan Simpson, former Republican Senator from Wyoming and Co-Chair of Obama's deficit commission which is considering various proposals to cut Social Security benefits.

Alan Simpson believes that Social Security is "like a milk cow with
310 million tits," according to an email he sent to the executive
director of National Older Women's League Tuesday morning. Simpson
co-chairs the deficit commission, which is considering various proposals
to cut Social Security benefits.

Simpson's email, which OWL chief Ashley Carson released publicly, (PDF) was sent in response to an April blog post Carson wrote for the Huffington Post. Carson
criticized Simpson for repeatedly describing his Social Security
opponents as "Pink Panthers," arguing that the description had sexist
connotations.

His email is peppered with exclamation points and condescension. At
one point he urged Carson to read a certain graph, "which I hope you are
able to discern if you are any good at reading graphs."

Simpson concludes by implying that leading a major organization
dedicated to the interests of middle-aged and elderly women is not
"honest work."

"If you have some better suggestions
about how to stabilize Social Security instead of just babbling into
the vapors, let me know," he writes. "And yes, I've made some plenty
smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last
degree. You know 'em too. It's the same with any system in America.
We've reached a point now where it's like a milk cow
with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work!"

It's unclear from Simpson's email if he means Social Security is the
milk cow or if he's referring to America in general. A Simpson assistant
responded to a HuffPost email saying that Simpson was traveling and
unable to comment immediately.

Simpson's tirade continues a pattern of erratic behavior that
threatens to undermine the commission's work. In June, he unleashed a
stream of error-riddled invective on a Social Security advocate wielding
a camera outside a closed-door commission meeting, leading Paul Krugman to conclude (happily) that Simpson was killing the commission.

OWL is now calling on the former Republican Senator from Wyoming to resign.

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